What No Magic Can Fix
by Searhuin
Summary: Rogue kneeled there weeping with Minerva in his arms. She was dead. Sting knew it. He knew that he'd killed her. Not to save Rogue from danger but because he to have Rogue all to himself. Now he watched from afar as Rogue cried out all his tears. Sting said.Once he's mine we'll live together as one big happy family and he'll forget all about you, Minerva."
1. Forever Gone Because of You

Rogue

* * *

It's his fault. It's all his fault. He betrayed me. He lied to me. His best friend. There is no way in the world I'm ever going to forgive him. Even if this world is full of magic of all sorts. There isn't **one** spell that's going to make me forgive him. Ever.

She was my everything. My happiness, my heart and most importantly she was the love of my life, Minerva Orlando. Minerva had captured my heart and kept it. Her divine slick black hair was tied in two weird shaped circles at the top of her head with strands that ran down her back. They made her cute. I liked to imagine how they made her look like a bunny. A demonic bunny. Minerva wasn't always proud of having been changed into a demon but when she was, nothing else was as gorgeous as her radiant smile. She blessed my days with her presence and I cherished every moment with her. I adored it when we went on missions together. We would travel past romantic landscapes and she would talk endlessly about them. Sometimes Sting, Yukino and Lector came along but that was when Sting wanted to have a double date. At least that's how things seemed back then. Minerva and I meant the world to each other even though she didn't always show it. I remember during Valentine's Day she blushed a little when we both wore Frosche outfits or when we would go on beach walks when we wanted some alone time.

Now all those happy and blessed days are just memories. All our plans are just dreams and fantasies. Minerva, my sweet Minerva is just a body in my arms. Even though I promised that I'd always be by her side she is gone forever and I am still here. All because of jealousy, I was kneeling over her weeping for my loss. All because of Sting, Minerva is dead and no magic can fix that.


	2. Dead Lovers

Sting

Rogue is depressed.

Rogue wouldn't stop crying over her. Everyday he stayed in his room crying in a corner holding a picture of Minerva in his arms. At night time he would lay in bed and cry himself to sleep. he always murmured her name in his sleep and every time someone knocked on his door he would ask if it was Minerva. If it wasn't her he wouldn't open the door. He has completely shut Frosche out and hasn't paid much attention to him for a while.

Yukino, Lector and I have been trying to cheer Frosche up but it only seemed to work momentarily. After a while Rogue's behaviour was getting too much for us to handle. I knock on his door and wait fo that dreadful name to come out of his mouth.

"Minerva?" The fact that even when she was dead she continued to lurk in his brain. In his mind, in his soul, his spirit. She is a disease that has plagued him. Despite hating her. Her name. Her existence. I still say yes. I say yes just so that I could get in his room. So I can see him again.

"Yes." I can hear him get up and he opens the door at the speed of light. He opens the door and the for the first time in two weeks I see him.

Rogue doesn't look like himself. At. All. His hair is frail and is starting to lose it's raven color. His eyes are pale red and he has the biggest and darkest bags under his eyes. His skin was so pale it was almost whiter than snow. We just stared at each other in astonishment. The Rogue Cheney I knew was gone. The Rogue I had fallen in love with, given all my love and the one I had protected for so long had vanished. Now in his place stood a rough draft of what was the final version. All the beautiful details about him. His bright yet mysterious red eyes are reduced to nothing more than just a feint red. What used to be his puffed up healthy cheeks just hang there. They aren't scary but they aren't pretty either. His slick raven hair that used to shine with blackness just hangs there. With no meaning, no value at all.

"What do you want murderer?" He glares at me and his voice stings my heart

The Rogue Cheney that you knew was dead. Minerva took him with him and left behind a living corps. _She took my Rogue. She stole him from me. That bitch-_

Rogue punched my face. A punch after the other landed on my face. He kept hitting me. Punching without end. Right. Left. Right. Left. over and over again. I just stood there unable to do anything to defend myself. I just stand there taking it all in.

"This is all your fault!" He yells at me still punching me. "This is your fault! You killed her!" I fall to the floor and he starts to kick me.

"You piece of shit!" He picks me up by my collar. "It should have been you! You should have died!" The tears start running down his face but he doesn't stop kicking.

"You worthless piece of shit! You never should have existed!" The stream of tears increases and his tears fall down onto my bruised face. I don't move. I don't do anything. I just stare at him in astonishment, pain, and helplessness. He stops hitting me and is now just yelling in my face.

"This…Minerva…Minerva would still be…if it wasn't for you…we would…" Rogue breaks down in tears and the guild finds them in the bedroom hall. Orga and Rufus pulled Rogue away from me and he retreated back to his room. Closing the door still in tears. Just like that Rogue had left me again.

The Rogue Cheney I fell in love with is dead.


	3. A Star Amongst Millions (Part 1)

Rogue

* * *

I lie down on my bed and wait for the voices in the hallway to simmer down. I can hear Orga, Rufus, Yukino and the rest worrying over Sting's bruises. The bruises I inflicted upon him. _The bruises he deserves. I hope those bruises stay, imprinted on his disgusting face for the rest of time. Those bruises aren't even comparable to the introduction to the pain I am feeling._

After a while the normal stillness of the night settles down and the bright moon shines down onto my balcony. The bright silver yet silky carpet lies there in front of my balcony door as if it's waiting for me to walk upon it. **_Rogue, come my love_** _._ I hear Minerva's voice. It's her real voice this time. I automatically get up and walk towards the door. I look at my reflection in the window and see it all. I see the chains of misery weighing me down, fastening me to the ground. The fog of darkness forcing me to inhale it with every breath I take. I see it all. I **feel** myself constantly being bathed in pain, sorrow, helplessness, and isolation. I look out beyond my reflection. I look inside it and see the light on the other side. Hope. **_Come Rogue, I'm here for you._** _Minerva._ I tighten my grip around the door handle making sure it won't vanish into thin air. _It wouldn't be too bad to get a taste of fresh air, especially with the circumstances._ I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I open my balcony door and step into the moon's spotlight.

A breeze of fresh air invades my nostrils and flows into my lungs replacing the shitty air I've been breathing in all this time. When I exhale I feel relieved. Released from my chains. Liberated from depression, darkness, the shadows, the pain, the isolation and the constant lead fluids that flowed within my soul. For the first time in two weeks I am in the light. The whole town is illuminated and with the stillness of the guild I can hear a bar party going on not too far away from here. The town lamplight shine like the stars one sees in a child's drawing all blurry and yellow. A warm yellow. The moonlight enhances the reflection of the millions of stars in the sky being shone on the sea's surface. _This is…Beautiful._ I lie down on the ground and look at the millions of stars in the sky. Amongst them is my beautiful star, Minerva. A particular white dot twinkles in the sky and I hold my hand up pretending to grasp it.

"Minerva." This time I speak her name not in anxiousness or desperation but in peace and admiration. _You'll always be beautiful to me no matter what form you take._ My eyes weary from all the crying and burning begin to close by themselves. I already know what awaits me in the world of unconsciousness. _This time I won't run. I'll accept it and move on._ I close my eyes and the dreadful scenes of two weeks ago come rushing back to greet me without remorse.


	4. A Star Amongst Millions (Part 2)

**Sting**

* * *

I had just finished off the last soldier in our area and I look around to see where the rest were. Rufus was finishing off two soldiers while Lector and Orga are pretty having fun boasting over a helpless beaten up soldier. I look both left and right but can't find a single sign of Rogue nor Frosche. _Where is he?_

"Rogue! ROGUE!" I walk around patrolling trying out different directions where he might have gone during the fight. _Still nothing._ A dreadful feeling of nervousness and doubt starts to creep it's way into my body. _No…no there's no way he's… He just isn't. He can't be! It's impossible!_

"ROGUE? ROGUE CHENEY!" I begin to run frantically towards the forest looking both left and right trying to catch, wanting to catch signs…anything that would confirm that I was on the right path and that Rogue was alive. Unfortunately everywhere I looked was just a lump of helpless rubble lying there in the aftermath of our battle.

I reach the forest at an alarming fast rate but it doesn't matter. My heartbeat rises and I can feel the consistent fast pace start to take a toll on me. _No. I won't stop. Not until I find Rogue._ A little further into the forest I spot a black haired figure on their knees in the middle of the forest. _I'm not sure who it is but it's better than nothing._ I run up to the person and realize that it's my greatest enemy in the world. Minerva and in her arms an unidentifiable person.

Minerva is bent over the person weeping her eyes.

"Minerva? Who is it?" I ask. She shakes her head not willing to respond to my question. I kneel down concerned and place a hand on her shoulder trying to consul her. She's shaking pretty bad but can't seem to be able to say anything. I repeat my question.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry Sting…" I stay there confused.

"I'm sorry Sting… I didn't mean to… I wasn't paying attention and…" She bursts into an uncontrollable puddle of tears. I shake my head trying to figure out something to do.

"Listen, I'll go find Rufus and the others. They'll take care of you and we can go find Rogue together—."

"You can't." She says abruptly.

"What do you mean Minerva?" I stare at shocked. _What does she mean by I can't find him? He's somewhere out here, he must be_ "Minerva what are you saying?" She doesn't look at me.

"You…you just can't find him. He's…he's gone Sting. He left us." _Where else could he be? There literally wasn't anywhere else to go._

"Minerva, I'm not following you hear. What are you saying? Rogue couldn't have left to go anywhere. We were literally fighting in a war 30 minutes ago there's no way he could have gone anywhere." She shakes her head.

"You really don't understand do you? Sting, Rogue is **gone**. He's completely vanished. He's no longer here with us. Is it really that hard to understand?" I was starting to get angry.

"Yes, yes it is! Just fucking tell me where he went! Where is Rogue!" I yell at her not being able to bear this bullshit any longer.

She looks up at me eyes full of tears and sorrow.

"He's dead Sting! That's where he's gone! To the land of the dead! And he's not coming back!" I stand there in complete disbelief _. No. This can't be. He can't be dead. NO! She's lying._

"You're lying!"

"I'm not! Look for yourself!" She turns the body in her arms so I can see him. There he is lying as motionless as the ground beneath him is Rogue, a dead body. I feel my knees buckle and I fall down besides him. He has a whole through his stomach and he's completely pale. His eyes are closed and blood is smudged along the side of his mouth. Around him seeped into the floor in his blood and there he lay in her arms. Rogue is dead.

My eyes tear up and I begin to ball my eyes out crying over his body. _It hurts. It hurts everywhere. My heart, my lungs, my stomach, my eyes, my brain. It hurts everywhere. ROGUE why? Why did you have to go!_

"I'm sorry Sting…this…this is all my fault. If I didn't have my back turned then…then he would still be alive. I'm sorry it's my fault." Minerva says in tears. To me whether or not she apologizes it doesn't matter. _Rogue is dead. He's dead because of her._

"Pay."

"What?"

"Pay for his death." I say.

"How…how am I supposed to do that?"

"Die instead and bring him back. You killed him didn't you? You should be able to bring him back to life too!" I jump onto her and shake her by her collar.

"You took the only thing I ever loved away from me." I let go of her collar and bury my head in my hands.

"At first it was just the two of us with Lector and Frosche. I loved him more anything or anyone in the world. Even though we were as tight as brothers I still fell for him. I admired the way his raven hair shone in the bright sunlight making it more radiant than ever." I pause and painfully look back at a motionless Rogue. _Get up please. PLEASE tell me this is all joke. Please prove to me that you aren't really dead. Rogue please be alive!_

"He would tell me everything and never hid anything away from me. I was the light and he was the dark. We worked hand in hand. Nothing came in between us. Then came the times when all he talked about was you. It was clear to me after he met you that he wasn't gay but nevertheless I loved him. I tried my best to be happy for him despite the fact that I couldn't bear to hear his shitty stories about both of you. The feelings I had kept inside me for so long were bursting to come out every time we were together but I had to refrain. I had to refrain from upsetting him. I've suffered enough… so pay for his death you little bitch!"

She just stands there but the only thing she does is move her head. She moves her head from left to right, refusing.

"I guess I'll have to do it myself." I place the index and the middle finger from my right hand in front of me and start reciting words from the forbidden magic book. There is only one spell hidden from the world that can undo death. In order for it to work the spell must be cast upon the murderer or someone associated with the victims death.

" _Ut congregem ad te tempore in principes iusta poena._ "A rim of words appears in the sky and surrounds her. It lock's itself into place and Minerva stands there immobilized and horrified.

"This is for taking away Rogue. _Commutation vitae!_ " She screams as her life force was being sucked out of her while Rogue's returning to him. After about three minutes of horrid screaming the spell disperses and she collapses on the ground panting. _So she's still alive._ I turn around and see that Rogue is still laying there but his paleness was starting to disappear. _He should be conscious again in about two minutes. That's enough time._ I turn to her to see that she is starting to get back on her feet. I conjure my Dragon Light Claw.

"Today is the day you die, Minerva Orlando. Rogue's new life starts here and you trust me you won't be in it. After every thing I've gone through it's only fair I get him now." She looks up as I raise my hand her eyes full of knowingness and pity.

"Don't expect me to go easy on you –"

"Secret technique: Dragon Light Claw!" I slash her before she can say anything else. She collapses on the ground and starts to bleed uncontrollably. _That's it. Rogue should be waking up any moment now. If I can pretend to be-_ Just as I turn around my eyes meet a pair of glimmering red eyes. Terrified red eyes. Rogue's eyes. He staring at me in complete disbelief and horror.

"Sting?" He whispers unsure of what he's just seen. I stand there petrified. I don't know what to do. I didn't plan things to go this way.

"Rogue..." I hear Minerva's voice behind me but I can't move. It takes him seconds to realize it's her voice and he darts over to her and holds her in his arms.

"Minerva?"

"I'm sorry Rogue...please...he did it...for..." Her voice trails off never to be heard again. The next moments are the most painful and terrifying moments of my life. There he is kneeling, Minerva in his arms crying, balling his eyes out, and I... I who was supposed to have him all to myself just lost him. Again. I stand there watching from afar.

"Sting did you...?" His voice is full of sorrow, pain and helplessness.

"Yes...yes. It was me." Rogue proceeds to howl out his loss, pulling her closer to him harder than ever. Crying more than a child who's toy had just been broken by bullies.

I look away. Not because I am ashamed of having killed her but because even as a corps she is more important to him than me, me who was still living, breathing and talking like him. She is still more important.


	5. From Friend To Foe

Rogue

* * *

I held her in my arms crying.

Crying streams, rivers, waterfalls of tears. The tears never stopped flowing. Over and over again they made their journey from my eyes across my cheeks onto the ground below me. No one and nothing could console me. I kneeled there crying, howling out my loss. From that moment on… I suffered. I suffered the loss of my love. I suffered alone. She who had meant everything to me was gone. Poof. Vanished. Her life force was taken by time. Time had taken her through him. Through Sting.

He, I once considered my best friend. A man with whom I'd acquired the title of _Twin Dragons_. With him I had fought against the incredible dragon slayer duo Natsu Dragneel and Gajeel Redfox. He'd been by my side during our fight against the dragons of the past. Sting that we the guild, had trusted with the responsibility of being our guild master. Sting, the man I had fought alongside against Jiemma. Sting, the man I had once called my friend, the master of Sabertooth, and my fighting partner. _Traitor._ My Twin Dragon who'd betrayed me, my trust, my faith. _Murderer._ He'd taken everything I lived for in this world. Minerva. Sting had murdered, killed, and executed the love of my life. _Killer_. Minerva Orlando my love had been taken my life force. The man I once considered my best friend was now my greatest foe.

As I flood the soil in my sorrow filled tears the forest around me begins to fade becoming a drawing of an empty forest on a plain white canvas. The plainness doesn't cease to grow. It envelops me brining with it an undeniable sensation of warmth. **_Rogue_**. A feint feathery but barely audible voice resonates from the depths of the whiteness. **_Rogue-kun_**. I hear it again. The voice is light, soft, tender this time more urgent than the last. I listen without replying, not knowing to whom I should reply to. The more I hear it the more detectable the urgency. The sensation of warmth grows burning my face a little. **Rogue-san**. _What is it? Who is it? What do you want from me?_ The feint sounds of cluttering, blabbering and birds are vaguely audible. _Where am I?_ With time my senses slowly begin to function gaining consciousness. The blinding light of reality hit me making it impossible for me to look up. _Is it morning or evening?_ After a couple dozen seconds of adjustment I can finally look up at the light blue sky without being blinded by the bright sunrays of the hot evening. The once vaguely audible sounds are transformed to the noise of the buzzing city. **_Ah, Rogue-kun!_** I extend my arm getting a hold of an unknown object before me. In response I get a surprised squeal and my vision clears. Standing in front of me is no one other than Yukino Aguiria. She's squatting over me her face all red with embarrassment. I look down at arm tracing its location. As I gently contract my hand I realize that the squishy material under my hand was no other than Yukino's left breast. _Again?!_

"Ah, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-" I instantly remove my hand from its location and sit up scratching the back of my head.

"Ah, don't- its alright. It's happened before right?" We sat there in silent before I heard her speak again. "Uh, Rogue-kun do you remember the time we lost Frosche at the market sale?"

I rack my brain trying to remember that **one** specific time out of the billion times we'd lost Frosche? After doing some raking the memory comes back.

"Ah the time he'd bravely traveled through the town in attempt of returning to guild."

"Only to end up in front of Fairy Tail instead." I sigh and Yukino's laugh flows out of her. I smile along with her feeling myself at ease.

"You know Rogue-kun, it's great to finally be able to talk to you again." I look down feeling a little awkward. "Ever since…well you know…ever since then no one's been able to speak to you."

"Yea..." There's a long silence and we stare out at the magnificent ocean.

"I know…you may not want to hear this but…Sting-kun..." My face cringes and I involuntarily wince when I hear his name. Yukino must have noticed because there's a pause before she continues. "Sting-kun... he wanted to meet up with you again…so…so you could talk to each other a-and figure things out…" _I never want to see that bastard again._

"Yukino, I appreciate your message however I **never** want to that bastards pitiful face ever again."

"But Rogue-kun—"

"No."

"Sting-kun understands that he's hurt you. He didn't mean to-"

"Didn't mean to what? That he didn't mean to kill Minerva before my very eyes. That he **accidently** killed Minerva. It wasn't intentional. Does he seriously believe that after all he's done to me I'd want to casually meet up with him? A-After all that bullshit- after…after killing- not wounding or hurting, fatally injuring, ending my girlfriends life I'd want to meet up with him. That's the best he can do?!" I say shouting at a frightened Yukino. She looks down defeated lost for words. I sit down on my bed head in my hands trying to find my cool.

"Please…please just…j-just listen to what he has to say. Ever since she left-"

"Since she was taken." I correct her. "She didn't leave she was taken."

"Ever since she was…taken, you've been locked up in your room crying, hiding, mourning, d-dying almost. Please talk this out-"

"How is talking going to solve anything? She's gone Yukino! GONE! She's never coming back no matter how much I see that fuck hole. No matter how much I talk to him, or leave the guild to get fresh air she's not coming back." The pain of having salt poured onto my wounds burns through me as I accept the fate that has befallen upon me. I slowly return back to being a pitiful sorrow filled man accepting the bitter harsh truth. "She's never coming back. It's over…it's all over Yukino." I say in a quiet voice.

"I'll leave but please…at least consider it." She walks up to the door and right before leaving she says.

"Frosche is waiting."


	6. Avenge

**Sting**

* * *

 _He's late. Of course he's late. Fuck it! He may not even show up! Why should he? After all I did to him how could've I possible thought he'd accept **this**?_

"Master—I mean Sting-kun, you look chilled to the bone, are you alright?"

"Frosche thinks so too." Lector and Frosche were standing in front me Lector a stick in hand, and Frosche a tennis ball.

They both wore a face of concern.

"Come on, there's no need to be worried. I'm alright." I ruffled both their heads and we smiled together sharing a laugh. A forced laugh mustering the scraps of destroyed joy left within our broken souls.

"Is Rogue really coming to join us?" Frosche asked looking up to me. My heart chattered. Another piece of my heart joined the pile of broken pieces within me. I tried to think of an answer that wouldn't add on to his grief but couldn't. I searched and he waited. Every second passing by the hopelessness grew bringing him back down to Earth. No not Earth…Hell.

He studied my face, my lips, my eyes, and my hunchback form. He looked at me with the eyes of an ordinary person. Frosche looked at me as if he'd discovered something, something so precious people would give up their fortunes for me. He looked at me as if I were the treasure chest where the world's most famous person had hidden something great. There was something else though. There was something else about the way the exceed looked at me. There was something about the discomfort in his eyes, the diminishing admiration, and the anguish upon remembering the sweet memories now broken.

It was something resembling pain in the way he squinted at me. It resembled the sorrowed shared by an individual. Within his eyes clear as day was something parallel to the pity one feels for a tormented soul. Although hidden behind his tender smile of fabricated joy the exceeds eyes speak only the truth. They speak the unspoken words of misery and yearning, and in that misery and yearning I saw my reflection. I saw myself.

After a long and painful pause I give him his answer.

"I don't know. It's complicated…" Frosche looked back down at his tennis ball all hopes broken as meant to be.

We stayed in the silence each one of wondering how we'd move on from our lives. What would happen to us, to our friends, to our guild, and most importantly to Rogue. It was all I could think about. How I thought I'd finally gotten what I wanted most in this world. Rogue. I would've given my life for him even now despite the circumstances. _Give everything for him even my life._ Did I truly love him to that extent? Who knows? Not even I know. _Pathetic._ Yes, that's what I am, pathetic.

In the next minutes to come I watched as Frosche and Lector ran to the newly arrived Rogue with Yukino at his sides. His reunion with Frosche could've made even the toughest of men cry if they knew the whole tragedy. Everyone laughed, some cried but they fit together. They fit perfectly together and I didn't. I stood and watched from the outside. I watched Rogue laugh, a real laugh of joy in ages, a laugh I'd dream to get out of him but never would and at that moment I understood who I was. A murderer. I belonged nowhere. I'd taken everything he had so I could have everything I wanted and I'd paid the price. I lost everything I ever yearned for, fought for, cried for, and cared for and now I'd lost myself.

I watched on as Yukino took the exceeds to vanish into town. Rogue was the last one left. _He stayed. Rogue stayed._ He faced me against his will but didn't move an inch from his spot. My lungs stopped working. My heartbeat increased. Dadum, dadum, dadum. My temperature rose. My head swarmed.

"What did you want to see me for?" _What did I want to say to him? Forgive? No…forget… no…_

"I-I…it's just…I'm sorry." I look down at my feet having nothing else to say. Having nothing _better_ to say.

"If this is what I came for I'm leaving. I've decided to show up at the guild events and I won't fight with you." I yanked my head up surprised at what he'd just said.

"Rogue…I-I-" The tears of joy and relief ran down my face. "Thank you…thank you so much…" He looked at me with disgust painted on his face, tsked and turned his back ready to walk away.

"Don't think that because I'm attending the guild hall again that it means I've forgiven you. Don't _ever_ get close to me again nor to anyone I care about. I trusted you and you broke my trust. Someone like you doesn't deserve to run our guild. Minerva would've made a better master. I don't know why we chose you."

 _Someone like me doesn't deserve to run our guild._ I watched as he too vanished into the town to join Yukino and the exceeds. I saw him walk out of my life. _Miverva would've made a better master._ I decided it was the last time I'd ever see him and him me.

 **Upon Saberhill**

Sting walks up to a gravestone with the name a name he knew to well engraved on it. He places his index and the middle finger from his right hand in front of him and starts reciting words from the forbidden magic book. _Ut congregem ad te tempore in principes iusta poena,_ _Commutatione vitae!_ A rim of words appears in the sky to surround him. It locks itself into place and Sting stands there immobilized. His life force is being sucked out while another force transverses to the grave. When the exchange is complete his body collapses on the ground never to know movement again.

As the revived walks into the guildhall everything and everyone stops dead in their tracks. Of all people Rogue can't believe what he sees in front of him. The person he'd cried for, who he'd grieved for weeks, the person he loved most in the world was now in front of him holding the person he hated the most in the world. The late master of Sabertooth, Sting Eucliffe was being held in the arms of the one and only Minerva Orlando.


	7. Star Crossed Lovers

**Rogue**

 _How can this be. No. None of this is true. This can't be. There's no way in the world..._ Eventhough I'm in denial, what I see remains the same. Nothing changes. Nothing will change what stands before me. My one and true love... the one I'd died to save. The one who'd been killed in front of my very eyes. The one woman I'd mourned for days, weeks, even months is now standing in front of me holding the very man who'd been the cause of my misery and sorrow. I'm utterly stupefied.

Minerva stands uncomfortably in the guild hall still holding Sting's corpse seemingly unable to let go. No one moves. No one understands. No one knows what to do, how to react to what they're seeing in front of them. We stay there staring at each other, the silence daring anyone to break it but no one says nor does anything. We just...stare.

"Min...er...va?" I hear my broken voice croak out from my throat shattering the silence. I clear my throat repeating her name with a stronger voice. "Minerva." As I approach her she sets Sting's now slightly paled body down.

I extend my hand towards her and she takes it wearing the brightest smile on her face. That's all it takes. A genuine smile from my former now revived girlfriend and without a second thought I throw myself at her, holding her tight.

To able to feel her _live_ body under my touch again knowing that this time...this time I can cry out all my tears and she will move. She will move to comfort me, tell me everything is alright, she'll kiss me and hold me. The tears stream out of me. I begin to shake uncontrollably but nevertheless I hold onto her with all my might. Promising I won't let her until I get a reaction from her.

"It's alright." I hear her say and I know this time she's the real deal. The Minerva I loved was back. She runs her hand along my back comforting me as the happiness keeps flowing out of me. Later that night we organize a banquet for the return of Minerva. Orga, Rufus and a group of other mages leave to clean up Sting's body before we organize his funeral. To be honest I can't care less about him anymore. He's gone, Minerva's back and that's all that matters now.

When the banquet's over Minerva and I take some alone time to go walk on the beach the way we used to. Holding hands, playfully bumping into each other, and splashing one another in the water. We finally settle down to gaze at the stars while listening to the sound of the ocean waves hit the sand.

"Minerva, I love you." I say for the millionth time, kissing her cheek as she giggles happily. _I missed you so much. If only you knew how much I love you. It's too great to put into words._

"I love you too, Rogue."

"When I lost you I thought I'd lost everything. Our hopes and dreams, our life together, our future. The pain of losing everything was simply too much to bear." I hold her in my arms as we stare at the starry sky.

The sky that watched over me while I was in distress, misery, sorrow, and my depression. The dark blue sheet spotted with bright spots shone there for me with the sole purpose of giving me hope, making the world all the more bearable for my broken self. Connecting me with my one and only love. Minerva. I can feel my eyes watering again. I don't care to wipe my face of these tears for they mean so much more than just salty drops of water running from my eyes. These tears are washing away all the bad times, my horrible past, making way for a new and a better life. "We can finally start to fulfill our dreams and fantasies as one." I hug her tighter never wanting to let her go. She squeezes my arm in return and we both enjoy each other's presence once more.

"Minerva, I'm so happy we're together again. It's just...it's just too much." I breath in the fresh air mixed with the sweet scent of her hair. I feel her shuffle uncomfortable under me as if something is bothering her.

"Minerva is something wrong?" I ask in a reassuring tone, letting her know not to hesitate to express her concerns or worries.

"Rogue... I would like to address...what happened on _that_ day."

"Minerva, please, let's leave all that behind..."

"No. Rogue, I would like to address this now. What happened between Sting and I... he did it for a reason other than mindless jealousy and revenge."

"Please Minerva, we both know full well that he had every intention of doing out of revenge. Besides why would he be jealous of you? We were best friends. We were always there for each other and I never hid anything from him. We were like brothers." _How can she possibly say that Sting did this for me._ I'm slowly getting pissed off.

"Rogue, listen to me. He didn't do it for the reasons you think he did."

"Then what did he do it for. Why did he decide that killing you was the best option. Wasn't there another way?" My voice starts to reflect the anger growing within me but Minerva doesn't drop the subject.

"Rogue, he did what he did out of love. He loved you like we love each other...he loved you more anyone else. It was unfair. Unfair to him. It was his only chance. The only way for him to express his love without neglected was to do what he did. It was his last choice." She looks me in the eyes but I can't stand it. He's finally gone. I have everything I've ever wanted, yet here I am listening to my girlfriend try to justify her murderer's actions. _Great._ _Even after his death that bastard found a way to fuck things up._

"Minerva stop. I don't understand. Why are you defending Sting. He's the one who killed you remember?" I search her eyes for the old Minerva. The one that I saw leave this world at the hands of that bastard. _All I wanted was to be happy. With my girlfriend. Is that too much to ask?_ Even though it's the same pair of blueish grey eyes I love to gaze at. Even though everything was the same...something's different. I feel I'm staring at a pair of eyes that shouldn't be here. Her hard and dignified expression doesn't change. She's still the Minerva I know on the outside, however when I look harder in her eyes I notice the difference which sends chills down my spine. Those eyes aren't hers. They're Sting's. Minerva's decomposed eyes were replaced by Sting's dying one's. The next words that come out her mouth shut me down completely.

"Sting was right. We're not meant to be."


	8. Obvious and Painful

I don't feel alive. I know I am but I don't **feel** I am. I sit there watching him run away from me. Rogue my poor lover. A man who was once my everything now barely means anything to me. He runs away from the ugly truth I've told him, leaving me alone in the night lit by the stars.

I am alone. I'm alone to feel like I'm out of place. Alone to feel that I don't belong here; in this world. The world around me lives on while I sit here, alive. Alive and dead.

I look up at the sky, at the stars shining bright, and breathe in the air clearing my lungs of death. I lay down onto the soft grass and close my eyes. I feel myself lose consciousness but that's doesn't worry me. _It's about time I let the truth sink in._ The grass carries me into a new world. A world where lies don't exist. A world where we only know of truth and face it without troubles. A world where the truth about me lies. The whole truth.

I wake up to the starry sky I left when I fell asleep. I look around. Everything is the same. _Shame._ I hear footsteps slowly making up their way behind me. _Rogue…_ The footsteps cease a meter behind me and the silence of the night refills the atmosphere. _Here goes nothing_. I take a deep breathe, prepare for myself get up, and turn around to face him.

"Rogu—."

Silence.

"Night… My lady." No remorse. No hatred. No envy. His voice is different. His tone is different. _He's changed_. He's not the guy I left behind. Not the one I know. He's not Sting.

"I haven't given you a dirty look. A dirty tone. Not attempted to kill you or throw insults at you. I'm just greeting you like a any normal person would. Surprising right?" I stare frozen in time. Unaware of time itself. It's just Sting and I. A rival and I, or so it would've been if he was the Sting I knew.

"I never really thought I'd be able to do it." I don't say anything. I want him to talk. To speak his mind as he did back in the forest. To tell me what he's feeling inside. What he's been hiding from the surface of the world for so long. This is his time. His world. His moment to do what he wants... and to succeed. "It was all about making Rogue love me. Making him mine. Before we joined the I was just a little boy who'd been raised by a dragon with an exceed and so was he. I was all full of myself and thought myself to be the best of the best. The strongest of the strongest. Sure I had idols I looked up to but soon even they weren't enough to keep my ego at bay." He pauses, sits down on the nearby rock, breathes in, and closes his eyes recalling a distant memory.

"I remember the day I saw him for the first time. An average looking emo boy with raven black hair, red eyes, and a cat who wanted to be a frog. I knew little about him but just that fact that we were so similar in so many of the same ways, the way time stopped in his presence, the strange feeling in my stomach, something told me we were meant to be. At least that's what I thought. Now, when I think back it could've easily been the grumbling of my starving stomach rather than fate indicating I've found the one. "

Silence.

"In the end it was useless for me to fight the truth. The truth about where I stood in that relationship. The truth about my life. Who I was to him. To you and to everyone else."

"Why?" It's the only word I manage to say to him. "Why?" He doesn't reply. He just sits there and listens to the peace of the world we're in. Observing the calm flow of the river. The stars within the reflection of the dark sky lying above us. Watching our conversation. Intently. Everyone and everything is aware of our story yet he doesn't bother to answer. He just sits there and I repeat myself.

"Why? Why have you changed? My death should've made your life easier. It should've been the passageway to heaven so why did you kill yourself?" This time he moves. He walks over to the edge of the river and stands at the edge looking out onto the actual sky dotted with stars but he remains silent. We let the words of our conversation sink in and I realize I don't need him to answer.

The wind fills the empty space between us. The answer is obvious and painful. Not obviously painful. No. Just obvious and painful. It's painful because his goal was never achieved. It's painful because he all wanted was happiness, and a life filled with love and joy. It's painful because I'm the cause of his suffering. The pain I've inflicted upon him has changed him. He'll no longer be the same...because of me. It has tainted him, Rogue, the guild, and many others. His life was nothing buy a horrible nightmare because **I** existed. Nothing more obvious than that, and it's painful.


	9. The Other Side of the Story

This is wrong. What has happened is wrong. Everything that has happened is unjust. Wrong if I should say so. It would only be right to restore things back to the way life was before. The only way to do that is by piecing back the broken pieces of glass. Which is exactly what I'm going to do. The assembling starts today.

Despite my harsh words Rogue was still able to bring himself to forgive me. _As usual._ Even after having scolded him multiple times in the past, his ability to always find a reason, to justify my actions as being worthy of forgiveness has, and won't ever waver.

Although some may say it's good to always try to see the other side of the story, the other half doesn't always prove to hide beautiful and wonderful secrets. Which is why they're kept in the dark to begin with. Nevertheless the flame that my "goodness" has ignited within him is what makes him strong willed but weak. Vulnerable even. Those who truly look will see that I am the source of his thriving, and the source of his downfall combined.

Sting saw it. The other side of the story. He saw it without truly knowing he had. Now it was Rogue's turn to see. To see the shelf, the book, the pages. To read the words, to comprehend them, to turn the pages to the very last, and shut the book. To turn it to the front, the title page and see the title. To see the other side of the story.

On the shelf next to the broken picture of us, lays a letter. A letter I left for Rogue. Etched on the paper's surface is a sentence. One he nor Sting would be able to understand. At least not it's real meaning. But that doesn't matter. Whether or not they understand won't change the results of what's to come.

I walk the lively streets of Sabretown holding onto Forsche's tiny but excited hand. We're heading towards the square where all the fireworks are going to be released. I lift him up to my chest, cradling him lovingly.

"Minerva-chan, they're getting ready for the fireworks!"

"I can see that! I bet they're going to be magnificent."

"Fro, thinks so too!"

Within the next few moments we witness an exciting burst of colours painting the navy blue sky. Couples are hugging, children are screaming in excitement, adults are drinking booze and enjoying the moment. Frosche and I are staring at the sky in pure amazement and bewilderment.

Today as planned at Saber square, the records are to be set straight. Once and for all.


End file.
